Hannes Soomer (Masteroil Alpha Van Zon BMW) leads the Superbike championship on a BMW. Florian Alt (Holzhauer Racing Promotion) is second overall on a Honda. Lukas Tulovic (Triple M Racing Ducati Frankfurt) was the fastest in today’s Superpole pre-practice. He is also third in the standings. And finally, there is Toni Finsterbusch (GERT56 By RS Speedbikes), who is just one point behind Tulovic. The title race could hardly be any closer. Florian Alt is hoping for a backup plan.
“We’ll be using concession parts for the first time,” explains HRP team boss Jens Holzhauer at the fourth round of the IDM this year, citing the much-discussed triple clamp for the Honda. In addition, the bike is set to be fitted with different rims—specifically, the World Championship wheels used by Toprak Razgatlioglu in the Superbike World Championship. However, all of these components—including the performance parts supplied by Honda—will not be put to use until the next races in Assen at the end of August, at the earliest.
“We won’t be able to step it up until after the summer break,” Holzhauer confirms, explaining, “We have a lot of test bench work ahead of us, which will take time.” Florian Alt won the title for Honda in Germany’s top motorcycle class two years ago. This year, the season began with a DNF. In Schleiz and Most, Alt secured one victory and one second-place finish each. “Nothing is decided yet,” Holzhauer shakes his head regarding the title race, “it won’t be over until after the second race at the season finale in Hockenheim.”